Into The Unknown [Frank]

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

16 February 2026

There weren’t many people still in her life from her Auror days. After Bianca’s injury, she’d been assigned to a desk job. It was only meant to be a temporary reassignment, until she’d recovered physically and was able to return to the field. But she’d lost her nerve, and the psychologist for the Auror Office had determined that she wasn’t fit for such a dangerous job that required full mental dedication. So Bianca had been transferred to Magical Interpol, and she’d stayed there for years until finally making the decision to return to active duty as part of the Recapture Unit. And then she’d been promoted to Department Head – a huge leap for someone so young, but the Ministry was woefully understaffed, in a state of emergency, and in need of good Aurors.

The most important relationships had survived, but most of her casual coworkers had faded away. Unable to deal with Bianca’s bitterness and regret during her recovery period, or otherwise just moving on to big and better things. Her promotion was everything she’d ever wanted, that golden dream always kept fixed in the back of her mind – but it was hard and took so much from her. It made Bianca eager to fall back into familiar patterns, return to what was known and comfortable while she navigated this new and unknown terrain. That meant finding time to continue movie nights with Leo, complete with firewhisky and arguments over whether to put on a rom-com or sci-fi next, but it also meant reaching out to the people in her early Ministry experiences that had once loomed larger than life.

That included Frank Lancaster and his wife, who’d been such central figures in Bianca’s development, first as a trainee and then a full Auror. They represented everything a good Auror should be – bold, decisive, quick on their feet. And they were such a power couple too, the perfect inspirational blend of solid and steady with fiery and willing to take risks. It had been devastating news to hear that Cat Lancaster had passed away – more evidence in Bianca’s mind that you could do everything right and still be punished by the world. It hit too close to home, reminded her too much of her father’s death and everything that had been taken away from her -- not only her Papa, but her guiding compass as well. But it was time to renew the connection, if only because Bianca missed her old mentor, having someone to help guide her through the most difficult choices of her life. This new promotion…it was everything she wanted, but also promised treacherous waters ahead. Bianca wasn’t sure she was ready, wasn’t sure she could do this alone, so she’d written to Frank. It was an innocent invitation, lunch at the Leaky Cauldron so she could tell him the good news about her promotion in person...but she was also full of doubt about her choice, even a month later. She arrived early, like she always did, and found a table tucked away in the back that offered a full view of the room. It was the only thing that would satisfy her caution after so many years as an Auror who'd seen just about everything. She waited impatiently, her eyes scanning the room while her mind wandered.

@frank

[Deleted]

Frank had been pleasantly surprised to hear from Bianca, an old friend and mentee from his Auror days.. She had been through a lot, with her injury and physical and mental recovery from her injuries on the job, then being assigned desk duty after. He remembered when Cat had been injured on the job almost ten years back, and had gotten the same relegation; she had NOT been pleased with the decision. Frank and his wife had helped train the batch of Aurors that Bianca had been with, and he had seen real promise from the young woman. He knew currently that she was with the Recapture Unit, after the Azkaban breakout, and he could think of no one better suited for that assignment.

Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, he made his way inside, removing his cloak as he entered. It was warm and cozy, as usual, in the Cauldron, but outside a sharp bite of cold permeated the air. He spotted Bianca immediately and smiled despite himself. His hand resting heavily on his cane, he limped over to Bianca’s table, and seated himself across the table from her. “Hello Bianca,” he greeted, warmth creeping into the gruff tones of his voice. “This is an unexpected pleasure, to what do I owe this to?” he added, looking at her questioningly. Frank had never been as universally beloved like Cat had been, so he figured Bianca must have something to tell him outside of a catchup between old colleagues.

Bianca Alia Rivera

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Her years at the Ministry had changed her. Bianca would never have called herself an optimist, or someone who could be unbeatably cheerful no matter the situation. But there’d been a time when she’d been more hopeful, naïve even. The world had seemed simple and straightforward to her – put good in, get good back. Her years as an Auror had shown her that life had a way of relentlessly pushing you down, constantly throwing obstacles in the way and giving you every reason not to continue, to just give up and let it be. Her injury had shown her that you could do everything right and still sometimes fail. And for years – well, she’d let those lessons go unchallenged. Why not? All the evidence had seemed to point in that direction, and she’d learned to always follow the evidence.

Things were beginning to change now – new people in her life, new ways of thinking to challenge the world view she’d once kept solid as stone. But there was nothing that could bring back a semblance of the girl she’d been after first arriving to the United Kingdom like seeing her old mentor again. She’d once been much quicker to smile, and the sight of Frank approaching the table brought that old impulse to life. Bianca didn’t realize how tensely she’d been sitting until she felt herself relax as Frank limped over to her. He didn’t look quite the same either – older than she remembered, his face more lined and his posture crooked as he leaned heavily on his cane. But he was still her mentor, and it almost felt like none of the past ten years had happened as Bianca gave him the same quick and clever smile she’d shot him a thousand times during her training period.

“Good news, for once,” Bianca responded to his question, a silent acknowledgment of the fact that Aurors were more used to giving bad news than good. But first… “I should have written sooner,” she said abruptly, a stormy look crossing her features as she fidgeted uncomfortably at the thought that had been troubling her ever since she’d received Frank’s reply to her letter. “But I was so upset when I heard about Cat. I was following a lead in Wales, but I should have been there, at the match. I’m…sorry.” She sighed slightly at the apology – Bianca had never been one to apologize, even when she was in the wrong, but it had been weighing on her. Missing her old mentor’s funeral too had been an emotional decision and not a rational one -- Bianca still hadn’t completely worked through her father’s death, and receiving that news had awoken all those unaddressed emotions in her again. “But I wanted to tell you the news in person. The old department head for Law Enforcement, you remember him? He retired a month ago. He chose his interim successor before he left, and after a trial period…” Bianca took a deep breath and continued, “…the Minister’s decided to make her appointment permanent.”

@frank

[Deleted]

Frank raised a brow as Bianca announced she had good news for once. “Good news is always welcome,” he said. He grew still as she launched into an apology about not being at the match with him and Cat, and how upset she had been at her death. Cat was always so much better than he was with the younger Aurors, always willing to help them out, and push them to do better and be better. Frank wouldn’t consider himself a poor mentor by any means, if Bianca was any indication, but his wife had always been better. But he had always worshipped Cat, so he may just have had a certain bias when it came to her. “If you had been there Bianca, you would have been killed too, or severely injured at the very least,” he finally said in a quiet voice. “I don’t think I could have handled your death on top of Cat’s.” He sighed, taking a sip of his drink to collect his thoughts. He was still processing his grief on his wifes’ death, and while he was able to function, it still felt like an invisible blow to the gut whenever her death was mentioned. At least now he could talk about her when she had been alive without bursting into tears.

As Bianca got to her news, Franks’ smile grew wide. “You? Little Bianca head of Magical Law Enforcement?” he teased, but his expression was genuine. He knew at once Bianca was talking about herself, though she had said it in the third person. He remembered the old Head very well, and knew he had taken a liking to Bianca, and respected her work ethic. He raised his glass to cheers her. “Well, I can think of no one better to lead the Magical Law Enforcement department than you, Bianca. Well done.” Frank clinked his glass to hers, and then spoke again after a moment. “Cat would be whooping for joy and dancing around; you’ll forgive me I hope for not leaping up, with my leg not being what it once was,” he added with a wry chuckle.

Bianca Alia Rivera

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Death was a difficult subject to tackle, and not one an ordinary civilian thought of much in their lifetime. But Aurors? They were surrounded by danger, tasked with the job of hunting down Dark wizards and protecting the rest of magical society from the worst their world had to offer. They learned early, in their training periods, how to confront their own mortality and deliver the bad news whenever the job demanded it. How to get up again and keep going even after they'd seen the worst of it all. Those lectures always came after the initial weeding out period, the exams and physical training to sort those who could handle the tough aspects of the job from those who couldn’t. But the classes where they learned about the true dangers of the job? Yeah, they always lost a few after that too. She couldn't fault those who chose to walk away.

Bianca knew what she’d signed up for, but it didn’t make confronting that reality any less difficult. She swallowed slightly at her admission to Frank, the haunting thoughts that had stayed with her in June after hearing the terrible news. It was survivor’s guilt at its very worst, but she clamped down on the emotions and kept them buried deep in her chest. Frank had grown quiet, and he seemed deep in thought before he finally answered her. Bianca couldn’t blame him. She’d lost her father too early, to a violent end, and she’d never really moved on from it either. She remembered just how close he and Cat had been, the sort of team they had made. One didn't just get over that in a period of months. At his answer, Bianca sighed heavily and shrugged slightly, breaking eye contact to stare at the glass of something or another she’d ordered. She didn’t think much about the potential for her own death, either. Bianca had always been a risk-taker, and never thought much of her own safety when there was a mission to be completed. Someday it might catch up with her, although with her new promotion…

“Little?” she repeated, mock offense in her tone even as she smiled at his exclamation. For once, there was no deeper reason for the two former Aurors to meet. No catastrophe that needed to be discussed, no threat that needed to be confronted head-on. Sometimes it felt like there was always some emergency that never gave them the chance to celebrate, but it wasn't the case this time. This was just a lunch with her former mentor, to give him the first real good news she’d had to light her passion in a long time. She’d been so hopeful when first joining the Ministry, and then the years that followed had shown her just how little of a difference most of the Ministry made in causing any real and significant change…but now she had a second chance. And Bianca, so tired of being tired, was ready to change the strategic balance. She was ready to take that second chance and hit the ground running.

A genuine smile dawned on her face at Frank’s excitement, and she clinked her glass against his as she gave a pleased shrug at his compliment. There hadn’t been much of a chance to celebrate the news yet. Bianca had excitedly shared with Felix, her expression much freer and less controlled than what he might have been used to seeing until that point. But the island was an urgent threat that demanded resources that the department didn’t have, so Bianca hadn’t truly taken a pause to reflect on what this promotion meant beyond a celebratory night with Felix. “I’ve got plans for the department,” she promised, a light gleaming in her eyes at the thought of all the changes she could make. All the lives she wanted to improve. But at Frank’s final dry remark, Bianca’s smile turned crooked and even a little dimmed. “I don’t think either of us are the same people we once were,” she observed quietly, her hand ghosting over her ribcage where the dark scars from that damned curse still ran jagged all over the left side of her body. An ugly reminder of the sacrifices that came with choosing a career as dangerous as theirs. Bianca clutched her glass tightly at the thought. “I’m worried about what it means if I take the job,” she admitted in a low tone, “Maybe…maybe I don’t have what it takes.”

@frank

[Deleted]

Frank chuckled as she mock bristled at his little comment. “You were trained by Cat from Day One, all of our mentees were little to us,” he teased right back. They couldn’t have been more than ten years older than their first trainees, but they always had a sort of familial bond with them. It was natural, his own mentor had told him, to form a solid friendship with your mentees. They had your back, and you had theirs. Mutual trust was essential in any kind of relationship, and that was made known very early on in the training.

“One would hope you have big plans, you’re the new generation. It’s in your DNA to have big plans,” Frank said, only half-teasing. Cat had thought very highly of Bianca from the start, and it had rubbed off on Frank quickly. She had the potential for greatness, his wife would see. Cat would be beaming with pride if she were there. “Bianca, I can’t tell you whether or not to take the job. That’s something you have to decide for yourself,” he told her. He wasn’t being unkind; he just knew from experience the more opinions of how to move forward you were being given, the less you actually wanted to move forward. “But I will say this. If Cat were here, she’d tell you that you’re worth twenty of the last person who held that job. I disagree; I think you’re worth thirty.” He gave her a half smile. “Only you can say yes. But don’t you think for a moment that you don’t have what it takes. Because you do. You definitely do,” he insisted.

Frank sat back with a soft chuckle. “Now before we get all choked up here, other than the big promotion, anything else going on in your life? Any boys I should be background checking?” he asked with a devilish grin.

Bianca Alia Rivera

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca didn’t let herself reminisce much these days. She had a tendency to idealize how things ‘used to be’ if only because she’d long since stopped being happy with how things were now. There had been a time when everything made sense to her – the lively camaraderie between Aurors, calling her father to complain about the useless stakeouts she would be assigned to as a lowly trainee, and stealing Leo’s snacks while they fought over who deserved the last bag of Doritos more. Now she lived in a state of perpetual uncertainty and recklessness, and life had lost its colors for her a long time ago. But sitting here with Frank – she thought she might be allowed to remember what it’d been like when times were simpler. “You always did seem larger than life,” Bianca acknowledged as Frank held his stance on calling her little. Everything about the United Kingdom had left her starstruck when she’d first arrived, but none more so than the tough and grizzled Aurors that kept their streets safe. She’d been in awe of Frank and Cat, and some part of her would always idolize them.

She’d been fiddling with the glass in front of her and idly swirling the liquid inside, but she glanced up at Frank as he informed her that he couldn’t make these types of choices on her behalf. Maybe it had been a subconscious decision, but Bianca hadn’t even realized that was what she had been doing. It was such a natural feeling to ask him for advice, and even after a decade of building her own career – she could so easily remember what it had been like as a trainee to turn to Frank for all the answers. She sighed slightly at the thought. “I want to believe that I can handle it,” she said, slightly put-out at the thought that there was something out there she couldn’t do. She shook her head and made a noise of frustration. “I just...ever since my injury, I’m questioning myself all the time. If I’m really making choices because I think they’re right, or just to prove something.” She’d admitted that thought back to Cade in January, an old insecurity that she hadn’t expected to reveal at an art gallery to a reporter she’d always considered a professional nuisance. But she missed the feeling of having someone to talk to – her friendship with Leo was a lot of things, but they weren’t so vulnerable with each other.

A smile flickered on her face at Frank’s vote of confidence, and she felt a spark of warmth light up in her chest. Bianca had never cared what most people thought of her – she didn’t need to be the most popular or well-liked in the room. But there were some people’s opinions that mattered, and Frank’s was near the top of that list. She laughed under her breath at his question and shrugged. It was the type of question Cat would always bring up, prodding Bianca about the boys in her life and teasingly asking if she should arrange the trainee partnerships in any particular way. It almost made it feel like she was here with them, and Bianca couldn’t help the snort that escaped her. “There might be one,” she acknowledged, her smile gaining a mischievous look as she added, “But he knows who’s in charge here.” She didn’t know what to call whatever she had with Felix, but it was fun and easy and took away some of the heaviness of her life. She didn’t want to look into it any deeper than that, because then it would start to get complicated. Instead she pointed out, “You sound like Cat. Since when do you ask about things like that?”

@frank

[Deleted]

Frank nodded, a look of understanding coming across his face. “Ahh, now there’s the heart of it,” he said, then gestured to his leg. “As someone with experience with injuries, let me give you some advice, for old times sake,” he told her, leaning forward. “As hard as it is, you cannot let your injury create self-doubt. I did not follow this advice as you know, and wallowed in self-pity and doubt for months after my injury. It did not help me at all, and it was only after my brother came and talked some sense into me that I realized I needed to stop doubting myself. Nobody could have been prepared fully for what that woman was planning, and no man, or woman, is above accidents,” he finished. He knew it was a little hypocritical, but he also knew that if he didn’t have a brother to shake sense into him, he may still be in that dark place he was last year. If he could have Bianca avoid that, he would help in any way possible.

Frank also laughed at Bianca’s reaction to his question. So there seemed to be a boy in her life, but Bianca was in charge. Sounded just like her, and Cat. Cat had been the one to ask Frank out when he hadn’t been able to find the courage to do so himself, but he had at least been the one to ask for her hand in marriage when the time came. Cat had given him the confidence to make these decisions, even if it was on his own. “Well, I figured I’d take a few pages out of her playbook. You know, to carry on her memory in a way,” he admitted, smiling wistfully at the idea. If Cat were there right now, she’d be drilling Bianca on this boys name, profession, former house and personality traits. Frank would not go that far; if Bianca wanted to tell him more about this boy, he would allow her to do so on her own time. “As long as he treats you well and you’re feeling happy, that’s what matters in the end. Everything else is just mindless buzzing,” he said.

Bianca Alia Rivera

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

As tough as Bianca wanted to appear, as independent as she wanted to be, she still leaned forward in anticipation as Frank began to offer her his advice. She felt like she’d been walking in the dark for so long, stumbling and trying to find the path, that she was eager to let someone else take the lead for once. Make the hard decision, shield her from the consequences. Bianca hadn’t found that in a long time. It was the role her father had always taken, being the protector in her life and guiding her through the darkness – and after his death, she’d resigned herself to the fact that she’d have to do it for herself from now on. It was a heavy burden to carry, and Bianca had insisted on trying to do it alone. It was easier to convince herself of that than to let anyone else in – because they might lighten the load for a while, but they inevitably left too.

She exhaled slowly as she processed his advice. Cat had always told her plenty not to doubt herself, and now hearing it from Frank – it was like a blast to the past. Only Bianca was a little older, and a little more scarred. Some of those scars were only skin deep, but others went much deeper and were harder to ignore. “I suppose, but…I feel weak that I couldn’t stop it. And if it happened before, there’s almost this sense of…dread, that I’ll be too weak the next time I need to act,” Bianca explained, absentmindedly chewing her lip as she unloaded the thoughts in her mind. That was a very poignant fear of hers. She wanted to be a protector too, just like all the great people in her life who’d been her role models, but she could never know if she was strong enough. Or if her weakness would eat her up in the end.

Even if it did sound strange coming from Frank instead of Cat, Bianca let herself indulge a little in the thought of her situationship. Because she wasn’t ready to call it a relationship – that would be too deep, too committed. That would be admitting that there were feelings there, and she’d told herself quite plainly that there was no room for that. Still, she let herself smile a bit. “We have really good conversations. Way beyond surface-level.” In reality, they did a lot more than just talk – but she wasn’t ready to admit to a pseudo father figure that those conversations usually led right into amazing sex and didn’t pick up again until the morning. She probably wouldn’t admit that to anyone, really. Leo might blush so hard he’d pop a blood vessel.

@frank

[Deleted]

Frank looked at her kindly. “You do not think I thought the very same thing, once I awoke in St. Mungo’s and processed Cat’s death?” he asked her quietly. He knew she did not think that at all, and he did not judge her for forgetting. It was easy to forget when self-doubt crept into one’s veins with an icy grip. “That I had moments where I thought, it does not matter what I do, for I will never be able to fully protect the ones I love.” Frank sighed, and sat back in his chair. Those thoughts had dominated his mind the months after his wife’s death. He may never fully verbalize how much his brother, blunt and monotoned as he was, had helped in his first steps towards recovery. He could not quite call it moving on, for he did not believe one fully moved on losing someone they loved so much, but he learned how to be at relative peace with the truth.

“It is easy to lose yourself in these dark thoughts. But Ms. Rivera, you know as well as I do that you are stronger than you’re making yourself out to be. And you must continue to have the faith in yourself that, faced with a similar decision down the line, you WILL be able to do what is best.” Frank paused, and chuckled. “Though perhaps it may take you a while to realize it.” He laughed again. “Goodness, that’s quite a lot from an Englishman,” he commented with a smile.

Frank got the impression that Bianca was not giving away everything regarding her…whatever she wanted to call it, with the young man she was currently seeing. Secretly he was glad; he and Cat had always seen Bianca as a bit of a surrogate daughter, and he did NOT need to know everything that happened behind closed doors. “Cat and I got detention more than once for being out of bed after curfew,” he told her with a small smirk. “I’m sure the old caretaker thought we were up to no good, but to be honest with you Bianca, we would take long walks together, or find somewhere to curl up and just talk. For hours we would talk about everything, from Quidditch, to lessons, to what our dreams were. What kind of family we envisioned having, what kind of home.” Frank trailed off. He and Cat had been very mindful of curfew for those particular rendez-vous, but the ones they got in trouble for they really had just completely lost track of time. “We got locked out of the castle once, didn’t even realize it was past midnight.” Frank grinned. “Luckily, Hagrid was still awake - he let us into the castle when we promised we wouldn’t do it again.” Hagrid had still lived in his cottage on the Hogwarts grounds then, and Frank remembered the former Care of Magical Creatures professor quite fondly.


Bianca Alia Rivera